People always continue to pursue lower cost options for living expenses or operating costs. One focus is directed towards utility costs. These include power, water, and communications. Landline telephone services are offered charging fixed local calling rates and either fixed or toll-based long distance calling rates. The toll-based rates are based upon minutes (or partial minutes) of talk time, with additional considerations for international calls. Cellular telephone services are offered charging airtime based rates with considerations for specific call connections. The monthly service charge includes an allotment of airtime. Any overage is charged per minute (or partial minute) at a substantially higher rate. Any underutilization of the allotment is either applied to the customer's subsequent bill or simply lost. The customer needs to determine an optimal monthly utilization and base a contract on an allotment of airtime accordingly.
Cellular telephone service providers have offered unallocated airtime for specific connections. One exemplary credited airtime would include calls made between two cellular telephones associated with the same service provider. A second exemplary credited airtime would include calls between a previously established series of specific telephone numbers and the subscriber's cellular telephone. A third exemplary credited airtime would include calls between a landline having service provided by the subscriber's cellular telephone service provider and the subscriber's cellular telephone.
A caller is desirous of contacting an individual. The caller dials a telephone number to contact the individual. If the individual is not available at that telephone number, it is common for an answering system to record a message from the calling party. The caller can subsequently try another telephone number to try to attempt to contact the desired individual. This requires that the recipient disseminate their cellular telephone number. There are many reasons why this would be undesirable.
A recipient can opt to forward calls from a telephone number to their cellular telephone. This process redirects the inbound call to a new telephone number. The cellular subscriber would incur airtime charges in accordance with the calling parties telephone number.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a device that increases the connectivity between an inbound call and the desired recipient, while reducing the monthly expenses respective to cellular telephone service.
Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views of the drawings.